Welding apparatus



April 7, 1936. R. B. LINCOLN ET AL WELDING APPARATUS Filed sept. 29, 1951 Patented .Apr- 7,119.36

UNITED STATES PATENT .OFFICE WELDING APPABATUQ ffPennsylvania Application seiaember 29, 1931, serial No. 565,126

6Claims.

Our invention relates, generally, to protective devices, and, more particularly, to helmets for use in protecting the eyes and face of' an operator when using a weld-ing arc.

In the past, helmets for protecting the eyes and face of an operator, when using a welding arc, have been provided with an electrically-operated shutter. In order to operate the shutter, a shunt has been placed vin the welding circuit which pro- 10' Vvided ,sufficient voltage drop, on flow of welding current, 'to actuate the shutter to the protective position in front of the eyes of the operator.

It has been found, however, that a shunt, which is capable of causing a suflicient voltage drop over a wide range of welding currents to satisfactorily operate a shutter, is tooA expensive in 'construction to warrant its commercial use in a welding circuit.

complicates the welding system and makes necessary the provision of. special conductors to which it may be connected.

One object of our invention, generally stated, is the provision of a helmet for use withlan arc welding system that shall be simple and eicient in operation and readily and economically manufactured. l Y i A more specic object of our invention is to provide for automatically protecting the eyes and face of an operator from injurious rays emitted by a Welding arc.

It is also an object of our invention to provide for mechanically closing a shutter in a welding helmet when the voltage between the welding terminals is decreased to a predetermined value.

A further object of our invention is to provide for utilizing a variable characteristic of an arc welding circuit for closing a protective shutter in a welding helmet, when an arc is struck, without using a separate shunt member in the welding circuit.

Other objects of our invention will, in part, be obvious and, in part, appear hereinafter.

Our invention, accordingly, is disclosed in the embodiment hereof shown in the accompanying drawing, and comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrange ment of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and objects of our invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description, taken invention; and

In addition, a shunt ,furtherl in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view along the line I-I of Fig. 2, showing details of construction of aA welding helmet connected to a welding circuit 5 for operation in accordance 4with the voltage across a welding arc;

Fig. 2 is a view, in front elevation, of the welding mask shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, similar to that shown 10 in Fig. 1, showing a second modicaton of the Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged views of the shutter mechanisms of Figs. 1 and 3, respectively.

Referring now to the drawing, the helmet illus- 15 trated in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a face shield l which may be constructed of any suitable heatresisting material that is sufficiently light in weight as to permit its being readily carried by an operator. Ahead-piece 2 is secured to the 20 shield I', as shown, for supporting it in a fixed position relative to the head of the operator.

In order to permit the operator to view a welding arc 3, Iwhich is maintained between a welding electrode 4 and the work 5 by a suitable generator 25 G, a Window 6 is provided in the shield l. The window 6 may be of any desired shape and size depending on the range of visibility that is required.

It is a well known fact that a welding arc emits 30 rays that are injurious to both the face and the eyes of an operator using the arc to perform a welding operation. While the face may be easily protected by the provision of a shield such as that shown in the accompanying drawing, it is nec- 35 essary to provide additional means for protecting the eyes of the operator from the injurious rays that pass through the window through which the work to be welded is viewed.

Therefore, a shutter 1 is provided which may 40 be rotatably mounted at its lower edge on brackets 8 by any suitable means. The shutter 1 is preferably composed of a colored glass which will absorb the injurious rays emitted by the welding are 3 and will transmit only sumcient iight to 45 permit the operator to observe the progress of the welding operation.

A spring I0, the tension of which may be adjusted by means of a wing nut Il, is provided and attached to an operating arm. I2 which is 50 secured to the shutter 1 to bias it to a position between the eyes of the operator and the arc and over the window 6. I

In order to allow the operator to view the work c unhindered by the shutter 1, while the welding 55 operation is not being performed. an electromagnet, shown generally ,at I3, is provided vfor opening the shutter 1, which comprises a solenoid r4, connected, asillustrated, across the arc 3, and a core-type armature I5, both of which may be `mounted in a bracket I6 that is carried by the The movement of the armature I B'is shield I. transmittedV to the shutter 1 by means of asrod I1 which'is secured to the armature I5 and attached by means of a link IB to the operating arm The proper functioning of the automatic welding helmet shown and described in accordance I vwiththe first modiflcationvof the 'invention detween the electrode 4 and the work 5, when they are not in electricalcontact and the arc is extinguished, is approximately 60 volts.

Therefore, if the terminals of vthe solenoid I4 are connected directly to the conductors supplying welding current to the electrode 4 and the work 5 and across the arc 3, it will be observed that voltages having approximately a ratio of 3 to 1 will be applied to the solenoid I4 during a complete cycle 'of a welding operation.

Thus, while the welding, operation is being performed, a relatively low voltage is applied to the solenoid I4 with the result that the spring/ I0 causes the shutter 1 to moveto the protective position in front of the window 6.

When the welding operation is completed or when, for any reason, the welding electrode 4 is removed from arcing relation with the work 5, the voltage applied to the solenoid I4 is practically tripled. The increased voltage is sufficient to cause the pull of the solenoid I4 to overcome the pull of the spring III, thereby opening the shutter 1 and providing the operator with an unobstructed View through the Window 6.

The shutter 1 will be maintained in the open position as long as the open-circuit voltage'of the welding system is applied-to the solenoid I4. In the event that a break should occur in the conductors connecting the solenoid to the welding conductors, the shutter 1 Wil1 be automati'cally| closed as is the case when the Welding operation is initiated. The operator will then be advised of a fault in the circuit and may then investigate to ascertain its cause.

With a View to providing additional protective means over the window 6 to prevent flying particles from passingtherethrough, a second shield I1' is provided and is secured by means` of the clips I9 to the outer side of the face-,shield I. While the second shield I1 may be composed of any non-inflammable transparent material,

such as clear glass,I it is preferable that it be composed of colored glass vsuch as will absorb part of the injurious rays emitted by a welding arc while still permitting the operator to see the work. It will be noted that with the second shield I1', of the character described, in position some protection is aorded to the operator when a welding arc is struck in the event that vthe shutter 1, for any reason, fails to close.

It will be readily understood that the operation of the electro-magnetv I3 may be adjusted by turning the wing-nut I I or by inserting resistors in the conductors connecting the solenoid I4 to the welding conductors. It is thus possible to use a welding helmet, constructed inaccordance with this invention, in-connectionwith welding circuits which are designed to operate over a` wide range of voltages. l

Referring now to Fig. 3 o! theA drawing. the welding helmet there shown comprises a shield I and a headpiece 2. The shield I is provided with a window 6 over which may be positioned.

a second shield I1' that may'be composed of a suitable ray-absorbing material, as set forth in connection with the description for the modification of the Welding helmet shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

'the shutter to the open position.

An electro-magnet, shown generally at 20, comprising a solenoid 2I and a core-type armature 2 2, which m-ay be mounted on a bracket 23 carried by the shield I, is provided for actuating the shutter 1 to the protective position. The movef ment of the armature 22 is transmitted to the operating arm I2 by means of'a' rod 24 and a link 25.

In many instances, in practice, it is desirable to position the welding generator at a considerable distance from the point Where'the welding operation is to be carri'ed out. dition, it is necessary to use long conductors 26 Under this conand 21 for conducting the welding current from I the generator to the point where the welding operation is tobe performed. Despite the use oi' fairly large conductors for this purpose, there is usually an appreciable voltage drop along them While current is being drawn to perform the welding operation.

Therefore, if the solenoid 2I is provided with a low resistance winding whose terminals are ccnnected to either one of the welding conductors at widely separated points, as for example tothe oppositeends of conductor 26, a suiiicient pull will Abe exerted on the armature 22 on iiow of welding current as to overcome the pull of the spring III and to close the shutter 1. As long as the welding current continues to ilow and causes a suiflcient voltage drop along the particular welding conductor to which it is connected, the shutter 1 will be maintained in the closed position. When the Welding current ceases to flow, however, the solenoid 2I will be de-energizedand the spring I0 will bias the shutter 1 to the open position.

Since certain further changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments ofthe 'invention may be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description `orl Y,welding arc m-ay be observed, a light-ray-absorbing shutter mounted on the helmet and disposed to cover the window, resilent means i'r normally biasing the shutter to cover the window,

and electro-magnetic means connected across the welding circuit and opposing the action of the resilient means for permitting the shutter to cover the window when the arc is struck.

2.A helmet for use 4with a welding circuit 4in which a welding arc is maintained -for performing a welding operation comprising, in combination a shield provided with a window, a shutter mounted on the shield and disposed to close the window, resilient means secured tc the shield and to the shutter for biasing the latter to close the window, and electro-magnetic means operatively connected to the shutter and electrically connected across the welding circuit, said electro-magnetic means opposing the action of vsaid resilient lmeans to automatically openthe .window when welding circuit in which awelding arc is main-A tained for performing a Welding operation comprisin'g, in combination, a shield provided with a window through which the arc may be observed,

a second shield composed of colored transparent material for absorbing part of the injurious rays emitted by the arc, said shield being. secured to the iirst named shield over the window, a shutlter also composed of colored transparent material for absorbing the balance of the injurious rays emitted by'v the arc and mounted on the shield, means for continually biasing .the shutter 1 to a position over the window, and electro-responsive means operative only when the welding circuit is opened for actuating the shutter from its position over the window. i.l An eye-protective device for use with Welding circuit in which a Welding arc is maintained for performing a 'welding operation comprising, in combination, a shield provided with a window through which the operation of the arc may be observed, a second shield composed of colored transparent material and secured to the first-named shield and over the window for absorbing part of the injurious rays emitted by the arc, a shutter, composed of colored transparent material rotatably mounted on the shield and disposed to close the window for 'removing the connectedto the welding circuit and mechanically connected to the shutter for actuating it to the `open position when the welding current has ceased to ilow.

5. The combination, with a welding circuit comprising a generator and a pair of electrodes between which a welding arc is disposed to be maintained, cf a shield for protecting the eyes of 'an operator from the injurious rays emitted by the arc, said shield being provided with a Window through which the arc may be observed, a shutter rotatably mounted on the shield and disposed to close the window, a resilient member secured at'one end to the shield and connected at the other end to the shutter for biasing itto the closed position, and electro-magnetic means operatively connected to the shutter and electrically connected to the electrodes, said electro-magnetic means being actuated on rise of voltage between said electrodes above a predetermined value for automatically actuating the shutter to the open position.

6.The combination, with a welding circuit comprising a generator and a pair of electrodes between which a. welding arc is disposed to be maintained, of a shield for protecting the eyes of an. operator from the injurious rays emitted by the arc, said shield being provided with a window through which the arc may be observed,

a second shield positioned over the window and connected to the electrodes and actuated on rise of voltage therebetween above a predetermined `value for actuating the shutter to the open position.

ROLLO B. LINCOLN. ALBERT M. CANDY. 

